Higher Education jobs in South America

We delve into the teaching diaries of those who've taken their careers overseas to find out what it's really like teaching English as a foreign language. This next article is from David Proctor, who went to teach in South America.

Back in 2005 I chose to study Spanish and Geography at university, mainly due to my lack of a career plan, and also because spending the third year in a Spanish speaking country was a compulsory part of the degree. So when choosing where to go and what to do in the Hispanic world, I discovered that Leeds University luckily had a fairly flexible year abroad scheme regarding possible options and destinations. Instead of going for the boring and easy option that would be studying in Spain, I followed my adventurous, travelling instincts, and opted for Chile, to teach English with the British Council Language Assistant scheme.

South America is an incredibly beautiful and diverse continent, but one that is often blighted by media reports of social divides, corruption, and drugs. Chile however is very different to its neighbours, the recent rescue of the 33 miners showed the country in its best light - organised and efficient. I was in Santiago, a spectacular capital city with hundreds of skyscrapers overshadowed by the mighty snow-capped Andes.

For my first time living and working in Latin America, Chile was a great introduction to the continent. Getting used to things such as the different Spanish accent and punctuality, or the lack of it, is difficult at first, but Santiago is a developed, cosmopolitan city with fine bars, restaurants and museums to help you settle, just be careful what time you agree to meet people.